Embrace the Floof
by mandaree1
Summary: Scorpia's molting and Catra's a bit of a worrywart.


**Disclaimer: I don't own She Ra!**

 **Title: Embrace the Floof**

 **Summary: Scorpia's molting and Catra's a bit of a worrywart**

 **...**

If there's one thing Scorpia knows, it's an open secret. They're her whole life, basically. It's an open secret that she's a Princess. It's an open secret that her venom is very weak compared to the rest of her family, most of whom could kill a grown man with a single strike. It's an open secret that Adora and Catra used to have a thing.

Adora's not someone Scorpia knew personally, but she had a habit of being brought up at every Force Captain meeting Shadow Weaver happened to attend. The sorceress would then bring out the footage, and in it Catra is in the background (or even the forefront) as Adora kicked whatever training bot ass the woman told her to that week. Catra is almost always _there_.

So it doesn't surprise Scorpia when Catra seeks her room out after they get paired together. She's just lost a buddy, after all, and Scorpia is more than happy to hug the fluffy woman close and pet her ears. She groans and hisses but Scorpia never feels the sharp edge of her claws, so she assumes it's okay.

But then _that time_ happens, and it's a secret-secret, and Scorpia is forced to lock her doors and curl up in the blankets for a few days. She feels bad, but she knows Lord Hordak won't object- after all, she doesn't eat during this time, either, so she's not taking resources from the working soldiers. It never occurred to Scorpia that Catra might not be so happy to ignore it. Not until there's a loud bang on her door three days in, and Scorpia is too kind to pretend to be asleep, so she drapes her blankets across her shoulders and goes to open it, quickly stepping back into the darkness.

Catra, ears flat and tail bristling, is most decidedly not happy about any of this, arms crossed. "Where have you been?"

What can she say to that? "Uh... here?" Scorpia pauses. "I'm on leave."

"You gave us no heads-up." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, nose twitching. "Entrapta's been spinning conspiracy theories all week. She figured the Horde was covering up your death and has been scouring the base for your body."

"Aww, that's nice of her."

"She wanted to do an autopsy," Catra rebuffed. "Why don't you smell like food? Have you not eaten? How are we supposed to take on Bright Moon if you're not eating properly?"

"I... don't eat. Right now." The second-in-command raised an eyebrow expectantly. "It's kind of embarrassing. You mind coming in?"

She sighed like this was all some great trouble, though she didn't technically have to do any of this, and walked in. Scorpia closed the door behind her. Her room was messier than what was strictly allowed, but Catra didn't seem to care. "How come you have your own room, anyway?" she asked. "You've had it long enough to imprint, so it wasn't a promotion thing."

"I'm a Princess. No one wanted to bunk with me." Scorpia reluctantly shrugged the blanket off. "And I do stuff like this."

Catra turned. Her eyes grew wide. She backed away. "Dude, what the Hordak is wrong with you?"

She blinked down at the big patches of crackly shell coming off her claws and tail. "I didn't think it looked that bad. You shoulda been here two days ago. _Woo boy_ , did that suck."

"Are you _sick?_ "

"Huh? Oh, nah, nothing like that. I'm molting." Scorpia sat down on the bed, listening to the already dead frame groan in protest. "I'm not supposed to move much right now, actually- I need to be quiet and focus and reharden. I'm sorry I can't help you with your plans, Catra, but I promise I'll try twice as hard when I'm done. I... hope that's enough."

Scorpia didn't want Catra to look at her the way the Princesses did. It still hurt to think of their stares, the way they flinched whenever she brushed against them. Maybe, if she gave a sample to Entrapta, that would make up for it? She could probably make something out of it- she could most anything else.

A thin hand touched her claw, surprising her. Catra sat down next to her, bringing it close to her face. She looked more curious than grossed out. "And I thought _my_ shedding was bad."

"I always thought it was pretty cool," Scorpia offered hesitantly. "Your winter coat is so fluffy!"

Catra snorted, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Just lay down, alright? I can't exactly get another one of you if you end up broken."

"Molting killed my Aunt!" she said, far too chipperly, as she sprawled out. "It can be pretty dangerous, but I'm through the worst of it now, so- uh, Catra?"

"What?"

"You're kneading."

"I know. You got a problem with that?"

Baffled, she shook her head.

Catra crawled up. She did a turn, then two, and then she was resting on Scorpia's shoulder. Her eyes were slitted, and Scorpia knew she would die before she admitted to purring but that was _definitely_ purring she was hearing.

"Go to sleep," she murmured, looking ready to do the same. "Entrapta'll cover for us if anyone asks."

 **Author's Note: I opened drabble prompts on Tumblr and a full thing spewed forth from me. It was too cute not to post.**

 **-Mandaree1**


End file.
